Just a few RO questions

[Swingpure]

Thanks for the tips on where to get fittings in the future. I did pick up 2 of the 4 today and the other 2 arrive on Thursday, then I am back at the build.

Also thanks for the emphasis on recording everything. I am a big measures guy, so I will have a number of excel sheets going, to capture the data.

I took to heart getting the concentrate into the pan as quickly as possible. As long as my RO produces as much concentrate as hoped, I think I should be good.

The plan is to collect some sap at 6:30 am. Once I have 20 gallons in the sap barrel, I will start the RO up. I will then collect more sap and put a total of 45 gallons of sap in the sap barrel.

Between 7 and 10, will finish collecting the sap, then get the evaporator ready to go. I will then stop the RO, take it from the garage to the sugar shack and start it up again, hopefully concentrating another 55 to 75 gallons of sap. I will then haul over the hopefully 22 gallons of concentrate from the garage, put it into the pans and pots, then start the fire on the evaporator and boil for 6 hours.

That should leave me time afterwards to flush the RO and transfer pumps and to finish the sap into syrup.

The unknowns to the plan is how much the concentrate the RO will produce in an hour and how many gallons per hour my five pan cinderblock evaporator actually boils. Having 9 gallons of sap per hour boiling on my induction ranges should help.

[Swingpure]

Take off the blue circlip (c clip) if there is one. Push inner sleeve into connector (the part touching the hose) then pull on hose.

https://youtu.be/znp5sh8fPHc?t=111

I just wanted to thank you again. It was a simple thing to do, which I did today for the first time, and once you do it once, you become a pro at it, but if you don’t know the trick, it is a puzzler.

[wobbletop]

No Problem. It's not intuitive.

[therealtreehugger]

Just a thought, and I’m sure you have your reasons, but why do you start your RO in the garage, only to move it, and your concentrate, to your sugar shack? Why not just start at the shack, where you can direct the RO concentrate right into your pans? Or at least it’s right there and you don’t have to move it again.

Also - you should have a dedicated container to collect your permeate water (the pure water that is taken out of the sap). You can use it to clean, drink, etc.

[Swingpure]

Just a thought, and I’m sure you have your reasons, but why do you start your RO in the garage, only to move it, and your concentrate, to your sugar shack? Why not just start at the shack, where you can direct the RO concentrate right into your pans? Or at least it’s right there and you don’t have to move it again.

Also - you should have a dedicated container to collect your permeate water (the pure water that is taken out of the sap). You can use it to clean, drink, etc.

Thanks,

The reason why I am starting in the garage is my impression is that the RO should operate in temperatures above freezing. My sugar shack is not heated and I expect that for the temperatures will be below freezing when I first start in the morning. My RO, theoretically, slightly cannot keep up with my evaporator, so I also need to RO for three hours before boiling so I have enough concentrate for the day.

That is based on expected concentrate per hour (7.5 gallons) and sap boiled per hour (8 gph) If my RO underperforms or if my evaporator over performs that will change things.

In the garage, I have a dedicated 55 gallon barrel to collect the permeate, at the sugar shack, it will go I to 5 gallon pails and eventually dumped into the 55 gallon barrel in the garage. I will flush the RO each day in the garage.

If I do build a poor man’s permanent sugar shack this summer, I may add electrical to it and a heater, that will allow me RO in one place.

[Swingpure]

So some other questions:

I have never had a RO before. When I watched a video on it, the guy did not want to touch the membrane and used a pair of pliers to grip the membrane right out of the package and then into the housing. So you should not touch a membrane with your hands?

When I finish building the RO this weekend, can I put the membranes into the housings now, a month before it is used, or should I keep them in their packages until I am ready to flush the RO initially, with water for an hour?

[therealtreehugger]

Thanks,

The reason why I am starting in the garage is my impression is that the RO should operate in temperatures above freezing. My sugar shack is not heated and I expect that for the temperatures will be below freezing when I first start in the morning. My RO, theoretically, slightly cannot keep up with my evaporator, so I also need to RO for three hours before boiling so I have enough concentrate for the day.

That is based on expected concentrate per hour (7.5 gallons) and sap boiled per hour (8 gph) If my RO underperforms or if my evaporator over performs that will change things.

In the garage, I have a dedicated 55 gallon barrel to collect the permeate, at the sugar shack, it will go I to 5 gallon pails and eventually dumped into the 55 gallon barrel in the garage. I will flush the RO each day in the garage.

If I do build a poor man’s permanent sugar shack this summer, I may add electrical to it and a heater, that will allow me RO in one place.

Sounds reasonable. I made my RO10 kit portable, so I keep it inside when not in use, but will bring it out in the morning even if it’s freezing, as long as I plug it in and start it right away. If sap is still liquid, it is not frozen. As long as you have a prefilter and don’t suck up ice, you are fine. Even if it is below freezing out. It is the ice crystals that can damage your membranes.
It seemed like extra work to me, transporting concentrate instead of making it in the same place you are going to boil.

[Swingpure]

Sounds reasonable. I made my RO10 kit portable, so I keep it inside when not in use, but will bring it out in the morning even if it’s freezing, as long as I plug it in and start it right away. If sap is still liquid, it is not frozen. As long as you have a prefilter and don’t suck up ice, you are fine. Even if it is below freezing out. It is the ice crystals that can damage your membranes.
It seemed like extra work to me, transporting concentrate instead of making it in the same place you are going to boil.

My unit is also portable. That is good to know that you can bring it outside when it is below freezing, as long as the sap is not frozen and you get it running in short order.

Once I reassemble my sugar shack in the next couple of weeks, I will see if I have room to bring the big barrels out and set up out of the garage.


I just got all of my fittings, so I will start to build it again this weekend.

[Brien]

Hey Swingpure,
Last year was my first time doing maple syrup, It was a very steep learning curve, but very fun. I'm a weekend warrior and my maple bush is out at my hunt camp 45min from my house. Keeping the sap good at the start of the year was no issues for me. I utilized snow banks and some times the ice itself from the frozen buckets.(counter productive, I know) The challenge was at the end of the season, when the snow was pretty much gone and warm temp were becoming more consistent. The last weekend I went out I was prepared to do my last big boil, but looking at all the sap in the buckets, yellowish and smelled a little funky, I just decided to dump the last collection. I had made good syrup and didn't want my last batch be spoiled or off tasting. But I don't think you will ever be in that situation, sounds like you will be boiling multiple times in the week.

[Swingpure]

Hey Swingpure,
Last year was my first time doing maple syrup, It was a very steep learning curve, but very fun. I'm a weekend warrior and my maple bush is out at my hunt camp 45min from my house. Keeping the sap good at the start of the year was no issues for me. I utilized snow banks and some times the ice itself from the frozen buckets.(counter productive, I know) The challenge was at the end of the season, when the snow was pretty much gone and warm temp were becoming more consistent. The last weekend I went out I was prepared to do my last big boil, but looking at all the sap in the buckets, yellowish and smelled a little funky, I just decided to dump the last collection. I had made good syrup and didn't want my last batch be spoiled or off tasting. But I don't think you will ever be in that situation, sounds like you will be boiling multiple times in the week.

Thanks

I will be gathering my sap each morning, so other than the days that exceed 120 gallons of raw sap, I should be able to boil the sap the day I gather it. If on a day I have a few gallons more, I could also boil longer.

I will not know until I RO how much concentrate I will get an hour and until I boil, how many gallons I boil an hour, but I have based this schedule on expected values. If the actual amounts change, I will adjust the time, I first start the RO.

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